Home Office

Defending Democracy Taskforce

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the terms of reference for the Defending Democracy Taskforce, how many times the Minister for Security has met the engagement forum for elected representatives.

Tom Tugendhat: There is no single engagement forum for the Defending Democracy Taskforce, which uses a number of channels for engaging elected representatives. As Taskforce Chair I jointly ran, with the Speakers of both Houses, roundtable events for representatives of the main parties in Summer 2023. Follow up roundtables are currently being planned, these take place alongside direct engagement with individual Parliamentarians on specific issues and engagement with local and devolved governments officials.

Fire and Rescue Services: Police and Crime Commissioners

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of granting powers to Police and Crime Commissioners to take over the governance of local fire and rescue services on fire (a) safety and (b) response times in (i) Essex, (ii) Northamptonshire, (iii) North Yorkshire and (iv) Staffordshire.

Laura Farris: Part 1 of the PCC Review explored ways in which we can strengthen fire governance and accountability. The findings signalled strong support for a directly elected individual taking on fire functions to help simplify and strengthen the governance of fire and rescue services across England. This position was reaffirmed in the Fire Reform White Paper, in which we set out our ambition to transfer fire governance to a single elected individual wherever possible. In the Government response to the White Paper, published in September 2023, we set out our intention to proactively encourage and support voluntary governance transfers to PCCs or Mayors wherever possible.The Home Office collects data on incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs), with this including fire incident and response time data for Essex, Northamptonshire, North Yorkshire and Staffordshire FRSs. This data is published in a variety of published data tables, available here: Fire statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Gangmasters: Lincolnshire

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority licences were issued in Lincolnshire in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been prosecuted under the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 in each year since 2015.

Laura Farris: The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) is an arms lengths body of the Home Office. The number of licences the GLAA issued in Lincolnshire between 2021-2023 are as follows: a) 2021 – 6 licencesb) 2022 – 4 licencesc) 2023 – 10 licences The GLAA publishes the total number of annual convictions on its website which can be found at Gangmasters Licensing Offences - Modern Slavery Offences - GLAA.

Knives: Bournemouth

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating a violence reduction unit in Bournemouth to tackle knife crime.

Laura Farris: Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) can play a key role in the implementation of a whole-system, or public-health, approach to tackling violence. The value of such approaches is recognised in the Government’s 2018 Serious Violence Strategy.Since 2019, the Government has provided over £160m to support the implementation of VRUs, with a further £55m invested in 23/24. Violence is strongly linked to specific geographies and to ensure maximum impact, this funding is targeted at 20 force areas that collectively experience the highest volumes of violent offences (around 80% of relevant offences). In light of the number of violent offences taking place in the Dorset Force area, Dorset does not currently meet the threshold for VRU funding specifically.We recognise, however, that a public health approach can still have value in areas with comparatively lower levels of violence, and that is why in 2023, we introduced the Serious Violence Duty, which requires specified authorities across England and Wales to work together to plan to prevent and reduce serious violence in their local areas. Local areas may choose to implement VRU-style partnerships as part of their work to fulfil obligations arising under the Duty. Useful information for those wishing to do so can be found here: Violence Reduction Units 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).The Government remains committed to providing the resources needed to tackle violent crime. We have provided funding to support implementation of the Duty, which for Dorset, amounts to £292k in 23/24, and we have also recently confirmed Dorset’s police funding settlement of £179.8 million in 2024/25, an increase of up to £11.1 million when compared to 2023/24. In addition, in recognition of recent exceptional policing demand arising in Bournemouth, we are pleased to have recently approved, on an exceptional basis, an additional £600k in 23/24 to enable Dorset Police to respond to this pressure.

Asylum

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of asylum seekers who were given the right to remain in the UK had had a previous application for the right to remain denied in each of the last five years.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the outcomes of asylum applications at initial decision is published in table Asy_D02 of the Asylum applications, decisions and resettlement detailed dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2023. Data up to December 2023 is due to be published on 29 February 2024.Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.Please note that the data relates to applicants’ first asylum claim and the initial outcome; the data does not indicate whether the individual has previously applied for any other leave; for further information on the journey of asylum seekers, see the Migrant Journey 2022 report.

Anti-social Behaviour: Police

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment the Government has made of the potential impact of trends in levels of financial settlements for local authorities on trends in levels of neighbourhood disputes involving police since 2010.

Laura Farris: The Government has not conducted analysis on potential impact of trends in levels of financial settlements for local authorities since 2010 on trends in levels of neighbourhood disputes involving police.This Government has supported the police by giving them the resources they need. We have confirmed a total police funding settlement of up to £18.4 billion for 2024-25, an increase of up to £842.9 million when compared to 2023-24.Assuming full take up of precept flexibility, overall police funding available to PCCs will increase by up to £922.2 million (6.0% in cash terms).Decisions on how to use funding and resources are an operational matter for Chief Constables. Police and Crime Commissioners are best placed to make resourcing decisions within their communities based on their local knowledge and experience.

UK Border Force: Labour Turnover

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Border Force personnel have left the force since 2019.

Tom Pursglove: The latest published staffing and finance figures for Border Force can be found in the Home Office Annual Report for 2022-2023 at:Home Office annual report and accounts: 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Department for Business and Trade

Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate she has made of the value to shipyards of the Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme (SCGS) is a £500m loan guarantee scheme, supporting eligible ship buyers and operators to access finance to buy UK-built vessels and upgrade existing ones. The scheme forms part of the Government’s £4bn plan to revitalise UK shipbuilding and coastal communities through the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh, announced in 2022.The value generated by the scheme will depend on the details of individual transactions, but each SCGS deal agreed will directly benefit UK shipyards, supply chains and coastal communities right across the UK.

Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what her planned timetable is for the implementation of the Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme (SCGS) was officially launched on 26 July 2023, and we are continuing to work closely with the National Shipbuilding Office on all aspects of scheme implementation. The SCGS is a £500 million scheme to help ship buyers and operators to access finance to purchase UK-built vessels and upgrade existing ones. It guarantees a percentage of the value of loans used to purchase, refit, retrofit or repair vessels, sharing the risk with lenders. The scheme forms part of the Government’s £4 billion plan to revitalise UK shipbuilding and coastal communities through the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh, announced in 2022. There have been 32 expressions of interest in the scheme so far and we are now working at pace to finalise the first transactions supported by the scheme.

Wines: Sales

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Written Statement of 8 January 2024 on Wine Quantities and Units of Measurement Update HCWS168, when retailers will be able to sell still and sparkling wine in the 200ml size.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government is planning to introduce legislation in spring 2024 on the proposals for new prepacked wine quantities announced on 27 December. All new legislative changes are subject to parliamentary scrutiny and due process, including in this case the need to notify the World Trade Organisation. Once this legislative process is complete, the legislation is expected to come into force around Autumn 2024, permitting the sale of still wine in pre-packed 200ml formats. The sale of pre-packed sparkling wine in the 200ml size is already permitted.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Waste Management

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to the Fifth Report of Session 2023-24 of the Committee of Public Accounts entitled Government’s programme of waste reforms.

Robbie Moore: Based on a report by the National Audit Office, the Public Accounts Committee took evidence from Defra on 11 September 2023. The Committee published its report on 1 December 2023. The Fifth Report of Session 2023-24 of the Committee entitled 'Government's Programme of Waste Reforms' is the Government’s response to the recommendations in the Committee’s report. The Fifth Report of Session 2023-24 will be returned to Treasury Officers of Accounts on 7 February 2024 and published on 15 February 2024.

Sewage: Chipping Barnet

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether any storm overflow discharges took place in Chipping Barnet constituency in 2023.

Robbie Moore: Defra and the Environment Agency have instructed water companies to introduce Event Duration Monitors (EDMs), which provide them with much more information about where and when storm overflow discharges have occurred. Water companies submit annual returns of their EDM data, which are publicly available. The annual returns for 2023 are not yet available. At the end of 2023, the Government target of having all storm overflows in England monitored was met, so the EDM data for all sites should soon be available.

Sewage: Pollution Control

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will introduce a legally binding target to reduce sewage discharges by 90% by 2030.

Robbie Moore: The Government is clear that the amount of sewage discharged into our waters is unacceptable. Through the Government's Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, we have set stringent targets for water companies to reduce the use of storm overflows, driving the largest infrastructure programme in water company history of £60 billion over 25 years. These stringent targets will prevent hundreds of thousands of storm overflow discharges every year.If it is possible to go further and faster while balancing the cost to consumers, we will not hesitate to do so. The Government will review the targets in 2027, so that we stay as ambitious as possible, while balancing the impact on bills.

Chemicals: Regulation

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the European Chemicals Agency's report entitled Investigation report to support the Commission on the preparation of a restriction proposal for the use and presence of CMR 1A or 1B substances in childcare articles based on REACH Article 68(2), published on 31 October 2023.

Robbie Moore: The UK has implemented its own independent chemicals regulatory framework, including UK REACH, from 1 January 2021. UK REACH retains the same fundamental approach and key principles of EU REACH, ensuring a high level of protection for human health and the environment in the UK. Now that we have left the EU, we are responsible for introducing our own regulatory measures, and these reflect GB-specific circumstances and effectively address the risks which apply in GB. In so doing we remain aware of regulatory activity taking place within EU REACH.

Deposit Return Schemes

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on establishing a deposit return scheme.

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure the interoperability of deposit return schemes in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to appoint an independent administrator for a deposit return scheme.

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on ensuring the interoperability of deposit return schemes.

Robbie Moore: Consultations on introducing a deposit return scheme (DRS) for single-use drinks containers were held in 2019 and 2021, with the final consultation response published in January 2023. These consultations applied to England, Wales and NI. In May 2023, UK Government published a position statement setting out that DRSs across the UK should be interoperable to reduce complexity for businesses and consumers, and to avoid unnecessary barriers to trade. Defra is working closely with devolved administrations on the next steps to deliver schemes that work together across the UK. We aim to publish a joint update in early 2024.

Microplastics: Pollution Control

Alberto Costa: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require manufacturers to fit microplastic-catching filters to new domestic and commercial washing machines.

Robbie Moore: The Government has already taken significant steps to tackle plastic pollution (e.g. microplastics), including restricting the supply of several single-use plastics through introducing a plastic packaging tax from April 2022; restricting the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds; and preventing billions of plastic microbeads from entering the ocean each year by introducing a ban on microbeads in rinse off personal care products. The majority of microfibres are removed through water treatment and analysis of the evidence available to date does not show that there is a sufficient benefit to the environment that can justify legislation to mandate the microfibre filters in new washing machines with prices ranging from £30 to £122 per machine, dependent on manufacturer and whether the filters are disposable or reusable. Defra’s Plan for Water therefore includes a commitment for industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machines and encourage their effective use. We have met industry colleagues and posed this challenge, and we look forward to any proposals they are able to share when they are able to do so.

Sewage: East Devon

Simon Jupp: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce sewage discharges in East Devon constituency.

Robbie Moore: The Government is clear that the amount of sewage discharged into our waters is unacceptable. That is why our Plan for Water sets out more investment, stronger regulation, and tougher enforcement to tackle widespread sources of pollution.We have legislated to introduce unlimited penalties on water companies which breach their environmental permits and expand the range of offences to which penalties can be applied, giving the Environment Agency the tools it needs to hold water companies including South West Water (SWW) accountable.The Environment Agency has worked with water companies to complete a programme to install Event Duration Monitoring to provide robust and consistent monitoring of how often and for how long all Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) are used. This was completed for all CSOs in Devon and Cornwall in 2023.The Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) is an important mechanism for delivering benefits to the natural environment. The Environment Agency works closely with SWW to review investigations and influence improvements to water company assets and activities which impact the environment, including but not limited to bathing waters, drinking water protected areas and sites of special scientific interest.The Environment Agency is currently investigating two recent incidents in Exmouth and has required SWW to provide data and information to support its investigations. The Environment Agency is seeking assurance that SWW is doing all it can to mitigate the environmental impacts, while the Environment Agency waits for future overdue improvements through WINEP. The prioritisation of improvements remains a substantial agenda item at regular performance meetings with the company.

Sewage: Chipping Barnet

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether there were storm overflow discharges into Pymmes Brook in 2023.

Robbie Moore: Defra and the Environment Agency have instructed water companies to introduce Event Duration Monitors (EDMs), which provide them with much more information about where and when storm overflow discharges have occurred. Water companies submit annual returns of their EDM data, which are publicly available. The annual returns for 2023 are not yet available. At the end of 2023, the Government target of having all storm overflows in England monitored was met, so the EDM data for all sites should soon be available. Three of the EDMs on the Pymmes Brook are new and therefore not online yet.

Water: Standards

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve water quality; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of these steps on (a) public health and (b) environmental sustainability.

Robbie Moore: The Government published the Plan for Water in April 2023. The Plan is our comprehensive strategy bringing together the significant steps we have already taken with a suite of new policy actions. The Plan is underpinned by Increased investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement. Improving public health and delivering environment sustainability were core elements built into the Plan to ensure we improve our water environment for people and wildlife. Public Sector Equality Duty and Environmental Principles considerations are factored into delivery of Plan for Water policies as is standard for all government policies.In addition to the commitments in the Plan for Water, government monitors water quality at designated bathing waters and shellfish waters in England for public health.

Thames Water

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which Minister has responsibility for drawing up contingency plans in case of the potential collapse of Thames Water.

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish his Department's contingency plan for the potential event of Thames Water's collapse.

Robbie Moore: Water companies are commercial entities. It is not appropriate to comment on the position of specific companies. However, as you would expect, the Government prepares for a range of scenarios across its regulated industries – including water – as any government would. It is the Defra Secretary of State’s responsibility to develop these plans for the water industry and it would not be appropriate to publish these plans.

Aviation: Carbon Emissions

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of prioritising sustainable aviation fuel when securing non-recyclable municipal solid waste as a feedstock, in the context of the number of available near-term options for decarbonising the aviation sector.

Robbie Moore: The Government confirmed that a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) mandate would be introduced in 2025 requiring at least 10% (around 1.5 billion litres) of jet fuel to be made from sustainable feedstocks by 2030. Recycled carbon fuels such as non-recyclable municipal solid waste have the potential to become a key feedstock for UK produced SAF, and supporting them via the SAF mandate will broaden the existing feedstock pool. This is consistent with the Government’s approach to waste policy as guided by the waste hierarchy, where the best environmental outcome for waste that cannot be either prevented or prepared for reuse is for material to be recycled. Where waste cannot be prevented, reused or recycled, the Government supports maximising the value of residual waste through recovering energy, including supplying electricity or heat, or through use as, or conversion into, a fuel. There are a range of recovery options - both established and emerging - available to waste handling operators, which will be selected according to market conditions and local needs, taking account of the waste hierarchy and the need to ensure the best available environmental outcome for the waste. There is nothing preventing the production of fuel from residual waste if this is determined, by local authorities or other waste handlers, to be the best overall value for money and environmental outcome for such waste.

Sewage: Luton South

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many sewage releases there were in Luton South constituency in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.

Robbie Moore: Over the past eight years the Environment Agency and Defra have worked with water companies to introduce Event Duration Monitors (EDMs), which provide them with much more information about where and when storm overflows are occurring. Water companies submit annual returns of their EDM data, which are publicly available here. The annual returns for 2023 are not yet available. The 2022 return shows that there were 32 storm overflows reported by Thames Water within the Luton South constituency. Only 5 of these storm overflows had EDM installed in 2022. EDM recorded 12 spills from these 5 overflows in 2022, lasting a total of 8.62 hours. Of the remaining 27 overflows without EDM, 2 were reported as being no longer operational, and their discharge permits have now been revoked. The other 25 overflows were all due to have EDM installed by December 2023. At the end of 2023, the Government target of having all storm overflows in England monitored was met, so EDM data on these sites should soon be available as well.

Sewage: Caddington

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether sewage was released into the chalk aquifer in Caddington in (a) 2022 and (b) 2023.

Robbie Moore: Caddington sewage treatment works has a discharge permit to discharge treated sewage effluent to ground. The permit states that the discharge must consist solely of treated sewage effluent and that the point of discharge is to ground via a soakaway. The borehole soakaways infiltrate into the unsaturated zone of the underlying Middle Chalk. The permit includes limiting values for the chemical composition of the effluent being discharged, to minimise the potential for pollution to arise from the discharge. This is what is known as an “indirect discharge” insomuch that it discharges to the unsaturated zone. Direct discharges to the saturated zone of the Chalk are forbidden.

Flood Control: Finance

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the impact of ineligibility for the frequently flooded fund on communities which are frequently flooded.

Robbie Moore: In July 2022, the Government announced the creation of new ring-fenced £100 million Frequently Flooded Allowance (FFA) as part of the Government’s record £5.2 billion investment programme into flood and coastal erosion schemes. In April 2023, the Government announced the first 53 communities in England to benefit from the FFA. These communities have been allocated a total of £48 million, better protecting more than 2,300 households and businesses across the country. The allowance is designed to ensure funding is appropriately targeted, benefitting communities where 10 or more properties have flooded twice or more in the last 10 years. These communities are often smaller and can face barriers to access funding due to the relative complexity and cost of building flood defences.

Energy: Waste

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an estimate of the impact of the (a) inclusion of energy from waste in the Emissions Trading Scheme, (b) extended producer responsibility policies, (c) recycling targets and (d) Landfill Tax rates on the amount of waste being turned into useable forms of energy over the next (i) five and (ii) 10 years.

Robbie Moore: This Government is committed to reducing the amount of residual waste and has set a statutory target to drive this. In accordance with the Waste Hierarchy, our view is that Energy from Waste should not compete with greater waste prevention, re-use, or recycling; however, it does play an important role in diverting waste from landfill and is usually the best management option for most residual waste. We are working closely alongside members of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme Authority on the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to include waste incineration and Energy from Waste. Final proposals will be set out in a technical consultation, which the Authority is aiming to publish shortly, and a subsequent response confirming these details shortly after. Defra officials are currently assessing planned Energy from Waste capacity up to 2035 against expected future residual waste arisings so we can understand what future capacity may be required following implementation of key commitments in the Resources and Waste Strategy. This assessment of residual waste treatment capacity needs will be published in due course.

Inland Waterways: Bacteria

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in waterways.

Robbie Moore: Defra has been working with the Environment Agency, the UK Health Security Agency, and others, to trial methods for detecting and quantifying antibiotic resistant bacteria in 3 river catchments in England as part of the PATHSAFE programme. The work involved sampling river waters at sites along the length of each river and subject to different land uses and potential sources of resistant bacteria. This work is still in progress, although the Environment Agency has already published some of the preparatory aspects and will publish further reports in the coming months.

Flood Control: Tamworth

Sarah Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much flooding response funding has been allocated to Tamworth constituency in each of the last 10 years.

Robbie Moore: In a flood situation local partners will come together to manage the response and support their communities. These will include our blue light services, the local authority and the Environment Agency as well as community members themselves. Their staff, and volunteers, play such an important role in supporting those affected, for which I am sure the hon.Member will agree they should be thanked and congratulated. Depending on the severity of the flooding, this will usually be coordinated through the Local Resilience Forum. This is where partners will come together to will manage a response to a flood event that may have impacts on homes, infrastructure, transport links and community hubs. Flooding can be devasting for those at risk impacted, which is why we are investing £5.2 billion in continuing to build defences that will better protect both homes and business, building on the £2.6 billion invested between 2015 and 2021 which provided better protection to 314,000 homes across England. I am aware that during Storm Henk in January, the Polesworth gauge on the River Anker recorded its highest level, which would have been very worrying for your constituents. But I am delighted to know that investment already made in Tamworth meant that some 2,500 properties in Tamworth were protected, with only some minor surface water flooding behind defences. Many of which I am sure benefitted from the £15 million Lower Tame scheme, competed in 2015. Following the recent storms the Environment Agency is assessing its existing defences to ensure they can continue to meet current and future needs. I know the Environment Agency is also exploring with partners the feasibility of the Tamworth Left Bank Flood Alleviation Scheme, on which, if it can go ahead, they anticipate beginning construction in late 2026 with completion expected in early 2029.

Electronic Cigarettes: Waste Disposal

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support Local Authorities with the (a) collection and (b) disposal of disposable vapes.

Robbie Moore: Changes are currently underway to the Producer Balancing System (PBS) under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations to ensure the costs of treating waste disposable vapes that arise at local authority waste sites are apportioned equitably amongst vape producers. The PBS also provides a guarantee to local authorities that all the waste arising at their sites, including disposable vape waste, will be collected. On 28 December 2023, we published a consultation on reviewing the WEEE Regulations to ensure that we drive up levels of separately collected WEEE, including vapes, and that the costs of recycling are met fairly by manufacturers, importers and distributors of electrical equipment.

Flood Control: Staffordshire

Sarah Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department last met with (a) Tamworth Borough Council, (b) Staffordshire County Council and (c) Lichfield District Council to discuss flood preparedness.

Robbie Moore: The Environment Agency works on plans for flood preparedness and resilience with all Category 1 and 2 responders as part of the Staffordshire Local Resilience Forum (LRF). The membership includes the Environment Agency, Staffordshire County Council, Tamworth Borough Council and Lichfield District Council. The LRF has regular formal meetings at a Strategic and Tactical level, Staffordshire Civil Contingencies Unit (CCU) provide the Secretariat and coordination. The dates for the most recent and next planned LRF meetings: Strategic Group01 December 202301 March 2024Tactical Group09 November 202308 February 2024 The Environment Agency also met with Staffordshire CCU Emergency Planners to influence tactical flood plan guidance for all Districts and Boroughs on 15 November 2023. During flood incidents all LRF members are invited to attend Flood Advisory Service calls arranged by the Environment Agency to be informed of likely flood impacts. A Flood Advisory Service call was held for Staffordshire LRF members on 02 Jan 2024. The Environment Agency in its strategic overview role for flood risk, meets with Staffordshire County Council formally at least monthly, as Lead Local Flood Authority for the county, representing Boroughs and Districts. There was a meeting between the Environment Agency and Staffordshire County Council on 19 January 2024. In addition to its work via Staffordshire County Council, the Environment Agency meets directly with Borough and District Councils as required. There was a meeting with Tamworth Borough Council in July 2023 to discuss progressing a potential flood risk management scheme in the area.

Swimming: Water

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications for bathing water status have been (a) made, (b) granted, (c) and (d) pending decision since 1 January 2023.

Robbie Moore: Defra has received 30 bathing water applications since 1 January 2023. All applications are currently being assessed by Defra officials against the eligibility criteria and evidence requirements set out in the bathing waters application guidance, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bathing-waters-apply-to-designate-or-de-designate. In addition, Defra designated four sites as bathing waters in 2023, although the applications for these sites were received in 2022. These four sites were:Sykes Lane Bathing Beach, Rutland WaterWhitwell Creek, Rutland WaterFirestone Bay, Plymouthan area of the River Deben Estuary at Waldringfield, Suffolk

Swimming: Water

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which bathing waters have been de-designated in each region since 2015.

Robbie Moore: Since 2015, the following bathing waters have been de-designated in the Environment Agency areas listed below: AreaDe-Designated bathing waters since 2015Cumbria and Lancashire2Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly3East Anglia1Solent and South Downs1Wessex2Yorkshire2 The names of these sites are:StaithesNewhavenLyme Regis Church Cliff BeachRockSillothInstowAllonby SouthClacton (Groyne 41)Burnham Jetty NorthIlfracombe WildersmouthTunstall

Flood Control: Standards

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a Natural Flood Management accreditation scheme to set standards for best practice.

Robbie Moore: In summer 2023, the Environment Agency surveyed Natural Flood Management (NFM) practitioners on their skills and training needs. The survey told us that only 6% of respondents considered accreditation to be “extremely important,” but there was no consensus on where accreditation is required or who is best placed to provide it. The survey data told us there was more demand for NFM training to count towards Continued Professional Development (CPD) credits rather than accreditation. There was no consensus on who is best place to award these CPD credits. The survey concluded that course content and the way courses are delivered are more important to respondents than accreditation or CPD credits.

Water Companies: Standards

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take legislative steps to suspend dividend payments to shareholders of water companies found to be in breach of restrictions on the release of sewerage into waterways.

Robbie Moore: We are clear with Ofwat that increases to customer bills must not flow through to company profits, dividends or to executive bonuses where performance is poor. Using new powers granted to Ofwat by this Government under the Environment Act 2021, Ofwat introduced new powers in May 2023 to ensure dividends are linked to environmental performance and cannot be paid where it would risk the financial resilience of the company. Government and regulators will continue to work together to hold water companies to account on poor performance and drive improvements that benefit customers and the environment.

Flood Control: Shrewsbury

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to fund flood mitigation measures in Shrewsbury in the next financial year.

Robbie Moore: Better protecting communities from flooding remains a key priority for the Government and significant investment in flood mitigation has taken place in Shrewsbury and the wider Severn Valley. During the 2024-25 financial year, approximately £5 million investment is planned to fund projects that will seek to further reduce flood risk in Shrewsbury. These projects are initiatives funded as part of the current six-year capital programme (2021-27). This programme aims to invest over £150 million, reducing flood risk and better protecting 3,000 homes and businesses across the English Severn and Wye Catchment. Almost £45 million of this will be in Shropshire, better protecting almost 600 homes and businesses. There are also existing flood risk management assets in Shrewsbury in the Frankwell and Coleham Head areas which together better protects 154 properties from flooding. The Environment Agency ensures they remain operational and highly effective at alleviating flooding to properties, businesses and infrastructure including through the most recent significant flooding events.

Sewage: Pollution

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage accurate reporting of sewage pollution by water companies.

Robbie Moore: The Government has made it clear that the amount of sewage discharged into our waters is unacceptable. That is why our Plan for Water sets out more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement to tackle widespread sources of pollution. We are making the water industry accountable on a scale never seen before. To achieve this, we have ensured that 100 per cent of storm overflows in England are now monitored, dramatically increasing the information we have on storm overflow activity. We included provisions in the Environment Act 2021 that build on this monitoring programme by requiring the publication of near-real time data on storm overflow activity by no later than 2025. We are also working to bring forward secondary legislation to support our new continuous water quality monitoring programme, which will provide world-leading information on the impact of storm overflow and final effluent discharges on watercourses.

River Mersey: Pollution Control

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to take steps to remedy metal contamination of bed sediments in the Upper Mersey catchment that result from (a) industry and (b) urban development.

Robbie Moore: There are six existing voluntary mine-water treatment schemes to prevent metals from abandoned coal mine discharges entering watercourses within the Mersey Catchment, and there are currently two other prospective schemes in the National Mine-water Ranking Scheme. There are no identified polluting metal mine discharges within the catchment of the River Mersey, and consequently no proposed schemes under that process. Other sources of metals in river sediments are many and varied (mostly from historical industries and waste activities), but the Environment Agency (EA) only has a role in controlling discharges from current regulated activities (effluent discharges, waste management activities, landfill etc) and has no regulatory remit or resource to specifically extract metals from river sediments that have been affected by historical activities. EA duties include regular and routine water quality monitoring on controlled waters (rivers, lakes, groundwater etc).

Floods: Disaster Relief

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the cost of flooding was to (a) businesses, (b) home owners and (c) the insurance industry in each of the last five years for which information is available.

Robbie Moore: The Environment Agency looks at long term national trends, rates of optimal spend, but only calculate the eco-nomic costs of an actual flood in occasional circumstances due to the significant time and cost associated with undertaking the reports. Therefore, the Government does not hold this data.

Property: Flood Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many properties have had property level resilience measures installed in each of the last five years.

Robbie Moore: The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

River Tame: Pollution

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many physical investigations the Environment Agency has made into pollutant discharges at (a) Wilson Brook and (b) Johnson Brooke, Hyde in each of the last five years.

Robbie Moore: The Environment Agency has physically attended six instances of reported pollution on the Godley Brook and unnamed tributaries. The Environment Agency worked with United Utilities and Local Authority Environmental Health Departments who attended a further six incidents and shared the information they gathered to further enquiries.

Waste Disposal

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department holds data on the number of environmental permits issued by the Environment Agency for the purposes of discharging (a) liquid effluent and (b) waste water to (i) surface water and (ii) the ground in each year since 2015.

Robbie Moore: The number of environmental permits issued by the Environment Agency for the purposes of discharging liquid effluent and waste water (both surface and ground) each year since 2015 is as follows. Note that the figure for 2023 does not represent the total for that year as the data set is incomplete. 2015 – 943  2016 – 1206  2017 – 1134  2018 – 1108  2019 – 1085  2020 – 1245  2021 – 1208  2022 – 1388  2023 – 1370  Total – 10687 These figures indicate the number of new water quality permits issued by year.   Under Section 22 of ‘the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, the Environment Agency has the power to revoke an environmental permit in whole or in part. This can happen for several reasons including operator competence or poor compliance with regulatory (permit) requirements, which means not all permits issued remain in place. More widely the Environment Agency is strengthening the way it regulates the water industry, with 100% of storm overflows in England now monitored and more than 12,000 storm overflow permits updated with stricter conditions since 2015. This ongoing work to modernise our permit stock will ensure the unacceptable number of spills into our waterways is reduced.

River Tame: Pollution

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether any (a) warnings, (b) fines or (c) prosecutions have been issued for pollutant discharges at (i) Wilson Brook and (ii) Johnson Brooke, Hyde in each of the last five years.

Robbie Moore: Including the Godley Brook and its two unnamed tributaries (which feed the Wilson Brook and flow through Hyde Park) there have been five warning letters issued in the last five years (2021 x2, 2022, 2023 x2) and no prosecutions or fines.

Coastal Areas: Bournemouth

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve the quality of coastal water in Bournemouth.

Robbie Moore: The Dorset/Hampshire coastal waterbody extends from Portland Bill to the southern tip of the Isle of Wight. Its Water Framework regulations status overall is Good. It is considered ‘Probably At Risk’ due to alien species. The Environment Agency (EA) are taking no direct local action in this regard as global warming and shipping are the main risk factors. Most bathing waters in the vicinity are classified as Excellent. Boscombe Pier bathing water is classified as Good. It was subject to an investigation by Wessex Water in the 2020 - 2025 investment round. This has been completed and no water company interventions were identified that would improve bathing water quality to a robust Excellent status. There are a handful of storm overflows that discharge to Poole Bay. As a minimum, Wessex Water will be required to reduce spill frequencies to ensure at least Good bathing water quality at local beaches by 2035 under the requirements of the Environment Act. The EA have significantly driven up monitoring and transparency from water companies in recent years, so that everyone can see how often and for how long storm overflows are used. All the data is published online. The operation of local storm overflows are included in the Surfers Against Sewage “Safer Seas Service”. This site includes the Environment Agency Pollution Risk Forecast warnings. Further details of this service can be found at http://www.sas.org.uk/safer-seas-service/.

River Tame: Pollution

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many pollutant discharges have been reported to the Environment Agency for (a) Wilson Brook and (b) Johnson Brooke, Hyde in each of the last five years.

Robbie Moore: In the last five years: one pollution incident in the Wilson Brook has been reported to the Environment Agency (2022) and one pollution incident in the Johnson Brook has been reported (2020).

Flood Control

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of page four of the National Audit Office’s report entitled, Resilience to flooding, published on 15 November 2023; and for what reasons the Environment Agency has reduced its forecast of the number of additional properties that will be protected from flooding due to the capital programme.

Robbie Moore: Defra’s Permanent Secretary and the Environment Agency’s Chief Executive provided oral evidence at the Public Accounts Committee hearing on 27 November 2023, discussing the National Audit Office’s findings and recommendations. The Committee will publish a report in the new year, to which the Government will formally respond. The investment programme has faced delivery challenges which the Government is taking action to mitigate. The effects of inflation have increased the cost of materials and labour to build flood defences, and impacts from Covid-19 delayed mobilisation of construction activity. These events were unforeseen when the programme was developed ahead of the funding being announced in March 2020. These issues have been felt across the entire construction sector. The Environment Agency therefore now forecasts the number of properties to be better protected by 2027 will reduce from 336,000 to 200,000, with the number of new flood defence projects reducing from approximately 2,000 to around 1,500. Ministers are considering this new forecast with the Environment Agency. Despite challenges, at the end of March 2023, the Environment Agency estimated that approximately £1.5 billion of the current £5.2 billion programme for flood reduction has been invested. Over 67,000 properties have already been better protected from flooding since the start of the programme and projects are being delivered in every region, providing flooding protection across the country.

Floods: Costs

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the cost of damage from flooding in each year since 2010.

Robbie Moore: The Environment Agency counts properties flooded during all flood events, with final numbers verified by local flood authorities. Additionally, the Environment Agency looks at long term national trends, rates of optimal spend, but only calculates the economic costs of an actual flood in occasional circumstances due to the significant time and cost associated with undertaking the reports. Therefore, data is not collated on an annual basis. Since 2010, there are costs of flood reports for the major events of winter 2013/14 and winter 2015/16. It is estimated the 2013/14 winter floods caused approximately £1.3 billion of damage and the 2015/16 winter floods caused approximately £1.6 billion of damage.

Buses: Exhaust Emissions

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 20 September 2023 to Question 198801 on Exhaust Emissions: Environment Protection, how much funding has been provided for Selective Catalytic Reduction bus retrofit technology (a) since 2013, (b) in total and (c) per scheme.

Robbie Moore: Government provided £19 million for trials of retrofit technology including Selective Catalytic Reduction through the 2013 and 2015 Clean Bus Technology Funds and the 2014 Clean Vehicle Technology Fund. £64 million was provided for Selective Catalytic Reduction bus retrofit by the 2017-2019 Clean Bus Technology Fund. Between 2017 and 2023 the NO2 programme provided £31 million for bus upgrade and retrofit schemes to local authorities, with some local discretion about how this funding is allocated.

Coastal Erosion and Flood Control

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the findings of the Environment Agency’s research report entitled Measuring resilience to flooding and coastal change, updated on 14 November 2022, when he plans to introduce a national set of resilience indicators.

Robbie Moore: The Government has committed to develop a national set of indicators to monitor trends over time in tackling flood and coastal erosion risk in England. To inform the development of long-term indicators an Environment Agency led research project Measuring resilience to flooding and coastal change was published in November 2022. Further research is now exploring data collection and development of potential indicators through the £200 million flood and coastal resilience innovation programme. The Government will provide a further update on progress to develop a national set of indicators in due course.

Animal and Plant Health Agency: Weybridge

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of funding a redevelopment of the Animal Plant and Health Agency Headquarters in Weybridge.

Mark Spencer: The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) provides high-quality surveillance, preparedness, detection and response to biosecurity threats from animal diseases - both those that might affect our ability to trade and those which pose a threat to animal and human health. To keep APHA’s Weybridge facility fit for purpose, support a major programme of essential maintenance, and secure the long-term future of critical capability, Defra established the Science Capability in Animal Health (SCAH) programme. This is backed by almost £400 million of funding in the current Spending Review period, including £200 million investment for SCAH and £197 million for critical works on site. The work which has commenced to safeguard and enhance the Weybridge site will enable its excellent scientists to continue at the forefront of science which protects the country, boosting our resilience against animal diseases.

Animal Welfare

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to implement Section 8 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

Mark Spencer: Causing an animal fight to take place, or attempting to do so, is an offence under section 8 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which would normally be enforced by the Police or the RSPCA. It is also an offence to be present at an animal fight without reasonable excuse or lawful authority. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 increases the maximum sentence for such offences from six months to five years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. This strengthened penalty sends a clear message that animal cruelty will not be tolerated and will enable our courts to take a firm approach to cases such as animal fighting. The Online Safety Act 2023 also requires social media firms to remove online content of animal welfare abuse such as animal fights.

Food: Imports

Sir Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what biosecurity restrictions on imported foodstuffs arriving in sealed refrigerated vehicles (a) were in place prior to and (b) have been in place following the UK's departure from the European Union; and for what reason was the Border Target Operations Model introduced.

Mark Spencer: When the UK left the European Union, we became responsible for designing and implementing our own border controls. The Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) is key to protecting the UK’s biosecurity and ensuring our trading partners have confidence in our standards. The longer we do not have full visibility and control over sanitary and phytosanitary imports, the greater the risks to our public health, our food and farming industries, and our natural environment. The risks of keeping imports unchecked is massive for the UK economy. For example, an African Swine Fever outbreak such as that on the continent would see stocks of pigs slaughtered and make our pork unexportable to the rest of the world. The BTOM strikes the appropriate balance between protecting the UK’s public health, food supply chains and farming industries and natural environment, and setting a pragmatic, proportionate controls regime.

Dangerous Dogs

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications his Department has received for certificates of exemption to keep an American Bully XL type dog in (a) Canterbury constituency and (b) England.

Mark Spencer: Defra received over 61,000 applications for Certificates of Exemption ahead of the deadline from dog owners in England and Wales. These applications are still being processed and may include duplicates, errors or ineligible applications. Defra does not collate this data by constituency.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Written Questions

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to Question 8086 tabled by the hon. Member for Bedford on 5 January 2024 on hornets.

Rebecca Pow: A response was published on 12 February 2024. I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member.

Food: Labelling

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that food businesses adhere to food labelling standards for items (a) containing common allergens and (b) marketed as (i) vegetarian and (ii) vegan.

Mark Spencer: The fundamental principle of food labelling rules is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable the safe use of food so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy. All food businesses selling food in the UK must comply with food labelling rules, which include the requirement for specific information to be presented in a specific way. For example, food businesses are under a legal obligation to provide accurate information on the presence of the 14 major allergens in food, so that people who have allergies and intolerances can make safe food choices.While there are no specific rules covering information on the suitability of food for vegetarians or vegans, the requirement that food information must not mislead consumers applies to such labels as for other voluntary labels. It is the duty of Local Authorities to enforce food safety and labelling regulations, to help ensure food is safe for people living with a food allergy. The Food Standards Agency have agreements and protocols in place to support local authorities in their work and give guidance to explain the regulations and how they can be applied to food businesses.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Azerbaijan: Climate Change Convention

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether the Government plans to appoint a UK climate envoy ahead of COP29 in Baku.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Climate change remains an area of utmost importance to this government and is a central focus of our diplomatic relations on a daily basis.Our senior representation on climate and environment has grown significantly since the creation of the FCDO, and expanded further since the UK's COP Presidency including two dedicated directors leading on climate and environment, and on energy security respectively.Since 2011 we have directly supported over 100 million people in coping with the effects of climate change, provided just under 70 million people with improved access to clean energy, and reduced or avoided greenhouse gas emissions by 86 million tonnes.

Lebanon: British Nationals Abroad

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many UK nationals have requested consular assistance in Lebanon in the last four months.

David Rutley: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has records of six instances where we provided consular assistance to UK nationals in Lebanon between 1 October 2023 and 31 January 2024. This number represents instances where consular assistance was provided following initial triage through our Consular Contact Centre. It does not include those who have registered their presence in Lebanon to receive updates from the FCDO. At present, we advise against all travel to Lebanon and advise British nationals currently in Lebanon to leave now via commercial means.

Yemen: Religious Freedom

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps the Government is taking to help promote freedom of religious belief in Yemen.

David Rutley: Promoting the right to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is a longstanding human rights priority for the UK. We regularly emphasise the importance of human rights, including FoRB, through our engagements with Governments and other key partners. We are also firmly committed to the protection of ethnic and religious minorities around the world, including in Yemen.We continue to actively monitor the situation of the Baha'i, Muhamasheen, and Jewish communities, including through meeting with their representatives in the UK.We urge the Houthis to cease their persecution, mistreatment and arbitrary detention of Yemenis detained for their beliefs.

Gaza: Israel

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his Israeli counterpart on Israel’s political objectives in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: In recent weeks the Foreign Secretary has reiterated to Prime Minister Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Katz and other senior politicians the UK's call for an immediate pause to get aid in and hostages out and then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life. Vital steps include the release of all Israeli hostages, the formation of a new Palestinian Government for the West Bank and Gaza, accompanied by an international support package, removing Hamas's capacity to launch attacks against Israel, Hamas no longer being in charge of Gaza and a political horizon which provides a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution. We need to generate momentum now towards a permanent peace.

Iraq: Religious Freedom

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has made an assessment of the most significant factors affecting freedom of religion or belief under the (a) federal Government of Iraq and (b) Kurdistan Regional Government.

David Rutley: Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is a longstanding priority for the UK and we are firmly committed to the protection of ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq, including the Kurdistan region. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, held a roundtable with religious leaders during his visit to Iraq in February 2023, in which he heard from them directly about factors affecting their communities, including militia presence, the legacy of conflict, exclusion and sectarianism and lack of legal protection. We frequently raise these with the Government of Iraq and Kurdistan Regional Government, calling for greater protection and deeper inclusion in national and local government.

Senegal: Politics and Government

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will (a) take steps to support inclusive dialogue about democratic processes in Senegal in the context of the postponement of presidential elections and (b) make representations to the Government of Senegal on protecting human rights following that postponement.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The United Kingdom respects Senegal's tradition of democracy. On 6 February the FCDO released a statement expressing our concern about the postponement of the Presidential elections. We encourage Senegal to work peacefully towards a transparent, inclusive and credible election.

Tibet: Buddhism

Ruth Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department has taken to address the persecution of Buddhists in Tibet.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK Government consistently raises human rights issues with the Chinese authorities. The Foreign Secretary did so during his introductory call with China's Foreign Minister on 5 December 2023. We also regularly raise Tibet in multilateral fora, urging China to reverse its ongoing, serious, and systematic human rights violations. On 23 January at China's Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council, the UK again called on China to cease human rights violations in Tibet. The British government works with international organisations and networks to promote and protect the freedom of religion or belief for all where it is threatened, including through the UN, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, and the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance.

Hong Kong: Religious Freedom

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of Article 23 legislation in Hong Kong on religious freedom; and whether he plans to make representations to his counterpart in Hong Kong on that matter.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The proposed new Article 23 legislation needs to align with international standards and protect the rights promised to the people of Hong Kong. We will monitor the development of the legislation and continue to raise the erosion of rights and freedoms with the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities. The Foreign Secretary last did so with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on 5 December. The UK is committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) globally. We continue to monitor FoRB in Hong Kong through our regular Six-monthly Reports to Parliament and interactions with local faith leaders. In our latest report, published on 19 September, we noted religious practice is generally not restricted in Hong Kong, with a variety of religious practices coexisting across the territory.

Yahaya Sharif-Aminu

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent representations he has made to the Government of Nigeria in connection with the case of Yahaya Sharif-Aminu.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK Government opposes the death penalty in all circumstances. We will continue to raise Mr Sharif-Aminu's case as he appeals his sentence. In April 2023, officials raised Yahaya Sharif-Aminu, and other blasphemy cases, with the Executive Secretary of Nigeria's National Human Rights Council. Most recently, in August 2023, the British High Commissioner handed over a letter from Fiona Bruce MP, the PM's Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief, on Yahaya Sharif-Aminu to the Kano State Governor and discussed the case with him. More broadly, we raise Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB) and the rights of those accused of blasphemy with Nigeria bilaterally and in multilateral forums including at Nigeria's Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in January.

Nigeria: Foreign Relations

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the state of relations between the UK and Nigeria.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The relationship between the UK and Nigeria is built on shared history, Commonwealth co-operation, people to people connections and educational links. As Africa's largest economy and democracy, Nigeria is a priority partner. By 2050, Nigeria will be the world's third most populous country. Ensuring Nigeria is stable, secure and prosperous, is critically important to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. During our annual Security and Defence Partnership dialogue with Nigeria in February 2024, we discussed strengthening our practical support to defend against security threats. UK trade with Nigeria was worth £6.7 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2023. President Tinubu's recent macroeconomic reforms have the potential to encourage further economic investment and trade.

Nigeria: Christianity

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has met (a) his Nigerian counterpart and (b) the Nigerian High Commissioner to discuss killings of Christians in central and northern Nigeria.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Rising insecurity in Nigeria has affected all faith and non-faith communities, including Christians. The root causes of this insecurity are often complex. UK Government officials and I regularly raise freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), including the impact of insecurity on communities across central and northern Nigeria, underlying the need to bring perpetrators to justice, with the Nigerian Government. Most recently, the British High Commissioner has raised the attacks in Plateau state over Christmas with the National Security Advisor. In February 2024 we discussed strengthening UK support to tackle insecurity in Nigeria. The former Foreign Secretary also raised this issue with President Tinubu and the National Security Adviser during his visit in August 2023.

Department of Health and Social Care

Autism and Learning Disability: Housing

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much capital funding NHS England plans to make available for housing for people with a learning disability and autism in the 2024-25 financial year; and if she will make an estimate of the number of people who will be provided housing through this funding.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England’s 2024/25 Learning Disability and Autism Housing Capital Programme plans to support up to 85 people with learning disabilities or autism who need housing to be discharged from a mental health hospital or to avoid hospital admission. This estimate is based on an expected £13 million capital allocation for 2024/25. Please note that this includes housing schemes that were initiated in 2023/24, as well as schemes that will continue into 2025/26.

Postural Tachycardia Syndrome

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of diagnoses of postural tachycardia syndrome since 2019.

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to establish a patient care pathway for postural tachycardia syndrome.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government has made no estimate of the number of diagnoses of postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS), although we know that PoTS UK has estimated the prevalence of PoTS to be 0.2%. Further information on the estimated prevalence is available at the following link:https://www.potsuk.org/pots-for-medics/gp-guide/Services for PoTS are locally commissioned and, as such, it is the responsibility of the local commissioning teams within integrated care boards to ensure that their services meet the needs of their local population. NHS England does not hold information on the services that provide a PoTS service for adults or children in England.

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whens he plans to reply to the letters of 29 November 2023 and 5 January 2024 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare on behalf of a constituent about air handling in enclosed public spaces to reduce risks of infection.

Andrew Stephenson: We have received the hon. Member’s correspondence of 29 November 2023 and 5 January 2024 and we will respond shortly.

Electronic Cigarettes: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help tackle underage vaping.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is concerned about the worrying rise in vaping among children. Youth vaping has tripled in the last three years, and one in five children now use a vape. The health advice is clear: if you don’t smoke, don’t vape, and children should never vape.The Government’s response to the recent smoking and vaping consultation sets out our plan to introduce powers to crack down on youth vaping by restricting flavours, point of sale and packaging for vaping products. We will introduce legislation as soon as possible. The consultation is available at the following link:  https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/creating-a-smokefree-generation-and-tackling-youth-vaping/outcome/creating-a-smokefree-generation-and-tackling-youth-vaping-consultation-government-responseIn the consultation response, we also announced that disposable vapes will be banned, due to their appeal to young people and environmental concerns. The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs will be taking forward the ban and are looking to legislate as soon as possible.We have also developed new training resources and support available for teachers and schools, working with the Department for Education to update the curriculum to include the health risks of vaping, and publish new online content on the potential risks of vaping for young people.Finally, we will also introduce a £100 fixed penalty notice for underage sales of tobacco and vaping products. This will enable trading standards officers to take quicker and more proportionate enforcement action against the irresponsible retailers who allow underage sales.

Dental Services: Lancashire

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of access to NHS dentistry in Lancashire.

Andrea Leadsom: Patients in England are not registered with a National Health Service dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend, allowing patients the choice of where they would like to receive a course of treatment.Within the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board and as of 2023, 78% of people trying to get an NHS appointment in the last two years were successful, compared to 77% nationally. In the previous 24 months up to June 2023, around 558,000 adults were seen by an NHS dentist. This was 41% of the total population, matching the national average. In addition, in the previous 12 months up to June 2023, around 196,000 children were seen by an NHS dentist, representing 55% of the total population, above the national average of 53%.Patients unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance. NHS dentists are now required to update their NHS website profiles regularly, at least every 90 days, to ensure patients have access to up-to-date information on where they can access care.The Dentistry Recovery Plan will make dental services faster, simpler and fairer for patients and will fund around 2.5 million additional appointments. The plan sets out a number of actions which will improve access for patients, by helping the sector to recover activity more quickly, addressing underlying issues and setting out the action needed for longer term reform of the system.

Dental Services: Lancaster and Fleetwood

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS dentists are taking on new patients in Lancaster and Fleetwood constituency.

Andrea Leadsom: Whilst the information requested is not held centrally, in 2022/23 1,109 dentists in the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board performed some National Health Service work work. This is equivalent to 65.2 dentists per 100,000.NHS dentists are required to update their NHS website profiles regularly, at least every 90 days, to ensure patients have access to up-to-date information on where they can access care. Patients unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance.On 7 February 2024 we published Faster, simpler and fairer: our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry. This plan sets out a number of actions which will improve access for patients by helping the sector to recover activity more quickly, addressing underlying issues, and setting out the action needed for longer term reform of the system. The Government is backing the plan with £200 million, and it includes the offer of additional payments to dental practices for each additional new patient requiring treatment. This will be rolled out from March this year, making it easier for patients to access NHS treatment.

Dental Services: Young Offender Institutions

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of dentistry provision in the youth secure estate.

Andrea Leadsom: NHS England has statutory responsibility for the direct commissioning of health services in the children and young people secure estate. Intercollegiate Healthcare Standards for children and young people in secure settings were first published in 2013 to support high quality healthcare provision for children in secure settings, and were refreshed in 2023. These standards are available at the following link:https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/healthcare-standards-children-young-people-secure-settingsThey formed the basis of an outcome-based dental service specification, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/health-and-justice-and-armed-forces-service-specifications-for-children-and-young-people-in-secure-settings/#:~:text=Health%20and%20justice%20service%20specifications%20for%20children%20and%20young%20people%20in%20secure%20settings,-Document%20first%20published&text=This%20suite%20of%20specifications%20includes,dental%20and%20oral%20health%20specifications.All children in the secure estate receive individualised care according to need and following an assessment via the Comprehensive Health Assessment Tool. This is an evidence based, validated health assessment tool for under 18-year-olds, which screens for physical health, substance misuse, mental health and neurodisability. This would include any dental care needs.

Alcoholic Drinks: Death

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help reduce the number of alcohol-related deaths each year.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is committed to supporting the most vulnerable and at risk from alcohol misuse and takes a wide-ranging approach to addressing harms. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, we have an ambitious programme to establish specialist Alcohol Care Teams in the 25% hospitals with the highest rates of alcohol dependence-related admissions, alcohol-mortality, and deprivation. This is estimated to prevent 50,000 admissions over five years. As part of the Government’s 10-year drug strategy, local authorities are receiving a record £516 million additional investment through to 2024/25 to improve drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services. This funding is in addition to the Public Health Grant and will improve the capacity and quality of drug and alcohol treatment. This funding is being targeted to areas of highest need first. This funding is in addition to local authorities’ expenditure on substance misuse services from the Public Health Grant.

Alcoholic Drinks: Consumption

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help reduce the alcohol intake of people who drink more than the government guidelines.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is committed to supporting the most vulnerable and at risk from alcohol misuse. The Department continues to promote the United Kingdom’s Chief Medical Officer’s low risk drinking guidelines in England, through online platforms and by encouraging producers to reflect the guidelines on the labels of alcoholic drinks.To support higher risk drinkers in reducing their alcohol consumption through substitution of alcohol products with alcohol alternatives, the Department recently consulted on updating labelling guidance for non-alcoholic and low alcohol products. This consultation closed on 23 November 2023, and the consultation response will be published in due course.

Alcoholic Drinks: Children

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ban the provision of alcohol to children under 18 years in (a) the home and (b) other settings.

Andrea Leadsom: The Licensing Act 2003 already includes robust provisions to regulate the supply of alcohol to children under 18 years old. NHS England also publishes guidance advising that children and young people should not drink alcohol before the age of 18 years old. We do not intend to bring forward legislative proposals at this time.

Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential merits of raising alcohol duty.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department regularly engages with HM Treasury on issues of duty in relation to public health. The Government has already delivered on its commitment to review the outdated and complex alcohol duty system and introduced the biggest reform of alcohol duties in 140 years. As of 1 August 2023, all alcohol is now taxed by strength, putting public health at the heart of alcohol duty. This is helping to target problem drinking by taxing products associated with alcohol-related harm at a higher rate of duty.

Alcoholic Drinks: Sales

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit the display of alcohol on shelves in shops and supermarkets.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government acknowledges that the irresponsible promotion of alcoholic drinks may contribute to alcohol related harms. Where there is evidence of this linked to the undermining of one of the licensing objectives, licensing authorities should consider whether it is appropriate to impose conditions on licences that require the licence holder to comply with the Portman Group’s Retailer Alert Bulletins.The Portman Group, the social responsibility body and regulator for alcohol labelling, packaging, and promotion in the United Kingdom, operates a Code of Practice to ensure that alcohol is marketed in a socially responsible way, only to those aged 18 years old and over, and in a way that does not appeal particularly to those who are vulnerable. If a product’s packaging or point-of-sale advertising is found to be in breach of the code, the Portman Group may issue a Retailer Alert Bulletin to notify retailers of the decision and ask them not to replenish stocks of any such product or to display such point-of sale material.There are no current plans to prohibit the display of alcohol on shelves in shops and supermarkets through legislation.

Children's Play: Safety

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the role of safe spaces for play in the healthy development of children; and if she will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on steps his Department is taking to help ensure that children have access to such spaces.

Andrea Leadsom: In January 2024, the Department published the guidance Improving the mental health of babies, children and young people. This recognises that outdoor learning can provide the building blocks for successful learning and attainment of engagement, enjoyment, social skills and self-regulated behaviour, experiencing success, and wellbeing and confidence.The Government has put policies in place to require local authorities to provide access to open spaces for sport and physical activity, which is important for the health and well-being of communities. Officials in the Department are engaging across the Government on this, and a wide range of issues, to promote healthier places.

Soft Drinks: Sugar

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps with the drinks industry to reduce the level of (a) sugar and (b) calories in pre-packed milk-based drinks.

Andrea Leadsom: Milk based drinks are included in the Government’s voluntary sugar reduction programme as they are excluded from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL). Businesses across industry were asked to deliver a 20% sugar reduction in these drinks by 2021. Between 2017 and 2020, sugar and calories in pre-packed milk based drinks sold through retail have reduced by 29.7% and 20%, respectively. Pre-packed milk substitute drinks, such as soya, oat and almond based products, have reduced sugar and calories by 6.9% and 8%, respectively.The final assessment of industry progress on reducing the sugar and calorie content of milk based drinks is expected to be published in 2024. HM Treasury said it would reconsider the exemption of milk based drinks from SDIL if insufficient reductions had been achieved by 2021.

Veterans: Women

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support her Department provides to female veterans suffering PTSD and poor mental health due to sexual (a) assault and (b) trauma.

Maria Caulfield: Health is a devolved matter across the United Kingdom, and it is for the devolved administrations to determine what support is made available in their respective jurisdictions. In England, the National Health Service, together with Police and Crime Commissioners, have commissioned Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs). These centres provide a safe space and dedicated care, through the NHS, for people who have been raped, sexually assaulted or abused, and are here for everyone, including female veterans.SARCs offer specialist practical, medical and emotional support day and night. They offer a range of services, including crisis care, medical and forensic examinations, emergency contraception and testing for sexually transmitted infections. They can also arrange access to an independent sexual violence advisor, as well as referrals to mental health support and voluntary sector sexual violence support services.In April 2023, NHS England commissioned Op COURAGE which is the veterans’ mental health and wellbeing service providing a comprehensive mental health treatment pathway to respond to veterans’ needs. We have increased investment in this area with the highest level to date in 2023/24 with planned spend of £23.5 million. Access to Op COURAGE is via referral or by direct contact from veterans. A campaign to raise awareness of Op COURAGE launched on 9 January 2024.The Government is providing an additional £10 million to support the Veterans’ Places, People and Pathways Programme to increase support to a significant community of vulnerable veterans throughout the United Kingdom and enable it to become self-sustaining.

Cabinet Office

King Charles III: Art Works

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of issuing free portraits of His Majesty King Charles III to registered charities.

Alex Burghart: The Government does not have any plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of offering a free portrait of The King to registered charities. The UK Government launched an Official Portrait scheme in November 2023 to enable certain Public Authorities across the UK to apply for a free, framed official portrait of His Majesty The King for display in their buildings. The scheme is ongoing and is due for completion by mid year 2024. His Majesty’s accession has marked the beginning of a new reign and the UK Government considers it is right that public authorities, as part of the fabric of our nation, have the opportunity to commemorate this moment, strengthen civil pride and reflect the new era in our history. Local authorities, court buildings, schools, police forces and fire and rescue services are among the public institutions across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, to be offered the new official photographic portrait of His Majesty, funded by the Government. The scheme’s second phase will be open for applications from Town, Parish, City and Community Councils across UK and MoD sponsored Cadets from the 12th February. A portrait will be available for purchase in due course for those not eligible for this scheme and details will be communicated at the time.

Treasury

Civil Servants: Pay

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will increase the five year pay envelope for people working in non-ministerial departments to reflect the £1,500 cost of living payment made to those working in ministerial departments.

Laura Trott: The Civil Service Pay Remit applies to non-ministerial departments. On 2 June 2023 an addendum to the Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance for 2023/24 was published. This set out that all organisations subject to the Civil Service Pay Remit – including those in a multi-year pay deal – were permitted but not required to make a fixed, non-consolidated payment of £1,500 to employees in the 2023/24 pay year.

Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the impact on excise duty receipts of the duty rates for wine and spirits introduced on 1 August 2023.

Gareth Davies: The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published its latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook report in November 2023. The publication contained an alcohol duty revenue forecast up to and including 2028-29 and was inclusive of all previous and planned future changes to alcohol duty rates including the changes to wine and spirits duty rates on 1 August 2023. Table 2.12 in the supplementary tables published alongside the Economic and Fiscal Outlook report contains separate receipt forecasts by type of alcohol.

Wines: Excise Duties

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of ending the temporary duty easement for wines between 11.5% and 14.5% alcohol by volume on small and medium-sized wine businesses in the UK.

Gareth Davies: As part of the new alcohol duty system, the Government introduced a temporary wine easement for 18 months. Until February 2025, all wine between 11.5-14.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) will pay duty as if it were 12.5% ABV. This means the wine industry will have had over two years to adapt to the new system.The Government is closely monitoring the impact of the recent reforms and will evaluate the impact of the new rates and structures three years after the changes took effect on 1 August 2023. This will allow time to understand the impacts on the alcohol market, and for HMRC to gather useful and accurate data with which to evaluate the effects of the reform.As with all taxes, the Government keeps the alcohol duty system under review during its yearly Budget process.

Ministry of Justice

Reoffenders

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of the prison population is on a Fixed Term Recall to custody.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Fixed Term Recalls there were in 2023.

Edward Argar: As at 31 December 2023, 0.3% of the prison population were on a fixed-term recall to custody. These figures have been drawn from the Public Protection Unit Database held by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. As with any large scale recording systems, the figures are subject to possible errors with data migration and processing.From January to September 2023, 4,889 fixed term recalls were issued. Figures for the last quarter of 2023 will be published in April.

Prisoners' Release: Housing

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to ensure that people who are released from prison have suitable accommodation.

Edward Argar: A settled place to live is key to reducing reoffending, cutting crime and protecting the public. Our Prisons Strategy White Paper set out our plans to reduce reoffending, including improving prison leavers’ access to accommodation.In July 2021, we launched a new transitional accommodation service, Community Accommodation Service - Tier 3 (CAS3), providing up to 12 weeks accommodation on release with support to move to settled accommodation, for those leaving prison at risk of homelessness, in five probation regions. The service is now operating in all 12 probation regions, and new places continue to be added as it develops. From the commencement of the service on 1 July 2021 up to 31 March 2023, a total of 5,796 people were placed in CAS3 accommodation.We are working closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, through its Accommodation for Ex-Offenders scheme (AfEO), to build a pathway from prison, ensuring prison leavers can move-on into settled accommodation. We have also increased the number of Strategic Housing Specialists across England and Wales to 48 FTE and have embedded the Homelessness Prevention Teams within Probation regions to strengthen strategic relationships between prisons, probation and local authorities and build accommodation pathways.

Youth Custody: Foreign Nationals

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national offenders there are in the youth secure estate; and if she will provide a breakdown of those figures by offence type.

Edward Argar: As of 30 November 2023, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 71 foreign nationals in the youth secure estate. A breakdown by offence type is given in the table below.Table 1: Number of foreign national children and young people by offence group, 30 November 2023Offence Group 1 Number 2Breach of statutory order*Domestic burglary*Drugs*Other 310Robbery*Sexual Offences*Violence Against the Person44Total 71Notes:Offence Group is based on the individual’s most serious offence for their most precedent legal basis.The symbol * is used for suppressed values of five or fewer, to prevent disclosure in accordance with data protection principles. Zero figures are not suppressed.“Other” includes Arson, Breach of Bail, Breach of Conditional Discharge, Criminal Damage, Causing Death or Injury by Dangerous Driving, Fraud and Forgery, Motoring Offences, Non-domestic Burglary, Other, Public Order, Racially Aggravated, Theft and Handling Stolen Goods and Vehicle Theft / Unauthorised Taking.Data Source: Further breakdown of youth custody data for November 2023.Since 2010, we have removed over 55,000 foreign national offenders from our prisons, immigration removal centres and the community. Between January 2019 and September 2023, we returned 16,676 FNOs.

Prison Officers: Youth Custody

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether prison officers working in the youth secure estate receive training on tackling violence against women and girls.

Edward Argar: The Youth Custody Service (YCS) recognises that girls have specific needs that require a gender-specific approach. A national Girls Oversight Board has been established to lead on the work of providing a dedicated care strategy, appropriate complex case management, and learning and development for staff.A bespoke training offer is being developed by YCS Psychology Services for staff working with girls in our Young Offender Institution and Secure Training Centre sectors. This will cover a range of gender-specific issues that directly affect girls and young women.Placement decisions in relation to girls in the youth secure estate take full account of the wider population of children. The Ministry of Justice expects standards of behaviour towards girls and women to be modelled and challenged appropriately by operational staff, and the mixing of cohorts is closely supervised at all times.

Prison Officers: Dismissal

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers have been dismissed for (a) supplying and (b) transporting drugs in the youth secure estate in each of the last 10 years.

Edward Argar: The vast majority of prison staff are hardworking and dedicated. A minority of staff engage in corrupt activity which is often as a result of conditioning and manipulation by prisoners.HM Prison & Probation Service has a zero-tolerance policy to drugs conveyed into prisons and take appropriate action to a small number of prison staff who break the rules. Our £100m Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs and mobile phones, is ongoing. This includes increased resource to pursue corruption, as well as established a new ‘Prevent’ function, aimed at building staff resilience against corruption.Below is a table showing the breakdown of staff dismissed from 2019 to Dec 2023 within the Youth Custody Service (YCS) for drug related offences. Table 1YearConveyance of drugsTOTAL12019020200202112022020230 Source: Linkspace Case Management System.Notes:Linkspace is the Counter Corruption Unit’s (CCU) Case Management System used to record and track cases linked to corruption.Data provided by the CCU have the following Caveats applied below;1) The new Counter Corruption Unit came into being in April 2019, with a new structure and a change to ways of working. During the initial transition period, and prior to the introduction of the new Case Management System, it is possible that not all arrests were being captured.2) Prior to April 2019, corruption in HMPPS was managed by the Corruption Prevention Unit (CPU). The CPU was a largely centralised unit focused on sanitising and disseminating all corruption related intelligence to the Police, with an individual Regional Corruption Prevention Manager (RCPM) in each geographical region offering advice and support to prisons in managing corruption, Hence data prior to April 2019 is not available.3) Data includes Non-Directly Employed Staff (public or private) as they provide a service on behalf of HMPPS.4) ‘Supplying and transporting’ of drugs in a prison falls under the definition of ‘conveyance of drugs’ and recorded on the CCU’s Case Management System to cases linked to drugs related offences.

Prison Officers: Dismissal

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the number of prison officers who were dismissed for having intimate relationships with young people in the youth secure estate in each year since 2014.

Edward Argar: The vast majority of prison staff are hardworking and dedicated. A minority of staff engage in corrupt activity which is often as a result of conditioning and manipulation by prisoners.HM Prison & Probation Service has a zero-tolerance policy on staff who form inappropriate relationships with prisoners and take appropriate action to a small number of prison staff who break the rules. Our £100m Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including reducing the number of staff being manipulated and conditioned by prisoners, is ongoing. This includes increased resource to pursue corruption, as well as established a new ‘Prevent’ function, aimed at building staff resilience against corruption.Below is a table showing the breakdown of staff dismissed from 2019 to Dec 2023 within the Youth Custody Service (YCS) for having an inappropriate relationship offences.Table 1YearInappropriate relationshipsTOTAL32019120201202112022020230 Source: Linkspace Case Management System.Notes:Linkspace is the Counter Corruption Unit’s (CCU) Case Management System used to record and track cases linked to corruption.Data provided by the CCU have the following Caveats applied below;1) The new Counter Corruption Unit came into being in April 2019, with a new structure and a change to ways of working. During the initial transition period, and prior to the introduction of the new Case Management System, it is possible that not all arrests were being captured.2) Prior to April 2019, corruption in HMPPS was managed by the Corruption Prevention Unit (CPU). The CPU was a largely centralised unit focused on sanitising and disseminating all corruption related intelligence to the Police, with an individual Regional Corruption Prevention Manager (RCPM) in each geographical region offering advice and support to prisons in managing corruption, Hence data prior to April 2019 is not available.3) Data includes Non-Directly Employed Staff (public or private) as they provide a service on behalf of HMPPS.

Youth Custody

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of people aged 18 or over in the youth secure estate.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy that young people over the age of 18 will not be placed in the Oasis Restore School.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment has he made of the causes of the increase in the number of young people aged 18 or over placed in the youth secure estate since 2022.

Edward Argar: It has never been the policy automatically to transfer young people to the adult estate on reaching the age of 18. Some 18-year-olds have always been managed in the youth estate, when they were nearing the end of their sentence or it was deemed to be the most appropriate location for them.While there can be benefits for the individual young person in remaining in the youth secure estate beyond the age of 18, it is necessary also to have regard to the wider effect on the youth estate, and to the needs of the secure estate as a whole. The cohort of 18-year-olds within the estate is monitored closely. Performance data and local intelligence help to inform placement and transition decisions.All decisions whether to relocate are taken on a case-by case basis, considering both the needs of the individual young person and the safety and safeguarding of others. Where appropriate, some 18-year-olds continue to be moved into the adult estate. Newly-sentenced or -remanded 18-year-olds continue to be placed into over-18 establishments.Young people over the age of 18 will not be placed in the Oasis Restore School, but the interim policy of retaining 18-year-olds in youth custody will apply to the school when it opens in Spring 2024.As this is an interim policy, we envisage that, when it concludes, the number of young people over 18 in the youth estate will return to previous levels. We plan to review the interim policy towards the end of 2024.

Prisoners' Release: Sexual Offences

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to ensure that serious sexual offenders are not allowed day release when serving their sentence.

Edward Argar: The Prison Rules in England and Wales provide that a prisoner may be allowed to leave prison for short periods on temporary licence (ROTL). The main purpose of ROTL is to aid resettlement and suitable, risk assessed prisoners may be allowed out during the day to, for example, work, attend college, attend an interview or maintain/re-establish links with their family. They are also, once at the required stage of their sentence, allowed to apply for temporary release overnight for a maximum of four consecutive nights a month.Eligibility for temporary release is not restricted by seriousness of offence. The decision to allow temporary release is taken by the prison governor, on behalf of the Secretary of State, who must always balance the needs of the prisoner and the purpose of the ROTL applied for, against the need to maintain public safety and the public’s confidence in the criminal justice system. Each decision is taken on a case-by-case basis to safeguard the public. Any breaches can result in more time behind bars.Category A prisoners, remand prisoners, and prisoners subject to extradition proceedings are not eligible for ROTL under any circumstances.

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of inmates serving life sentences in prisons are not British nationals.

Edward Argar: The requested information can be found in the attached spreadsheet.The removal of Foreign National Offenders is a Government priority. We removed 16,676 foreign national offenders between January 2019 and September 2023. Published figures show that FNO returns have increased in the latest 12-month period (ending September 2023) by 19% when compared to previous 12-month period (3,577 compared to 3,011).The Tariff Expired Removal Scheme (TERS) applies to foreign national offenders serving an indeterminate sentence. Section 32A of the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 provides the Secretary of State the power to approve the removal of a prisoner for the purposes of deportation once the minimum tariff date has expired and without the Parole Board directing release. TERS does not affect the normal consideration or processes for deportation or removal. A prisoner is not released from their sentence and are liable to continue to serve the sentence if they return to the UK.We have recently announced measures to further increase removals including the extension of the Early Removal Scheme window to 18 months; working closely with Home Office to facilitate timely removals and working with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to conclude bilateral Prison Transfer Agreements with specific countries.Table (xlsx, 16.7KB)

Department for Work and Pensions

Homelessness: Local Housing Allowance

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing discretionary housing payments to help reduce homelessness.

Mims Davies: Current rental data and the broader fiscal context were considerations in the Secretary of State’s review of Local Housing Allowance rates last Autumn. As announced in the Autumn Statement (AS) from April 2024 the Government is investing £7bn over five years to increase Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents in 2024/25. This is in addition to the around £30bn spent annually on housing support. Taken together with the wider benefits uprating, this will improve housing affordability for low-income households on benefits renting in the private sector, helping them afford their rent and reducing the risk of rent arrears and homelessness. Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) can be paid to those entitled to Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs This is not restricted to those who meet the statutory definition of being at risk or homeless, which allows DHPs to be used to stabilise tenancies and thus preventing the need to access to homelessness services. We’re providing £300m for DHPs between 2022-25. In addition to the central government contribution, English and Welsh local authorities can top up DHP funding up to a maximum of two and a half times this figure using their own funds.In addition, there has been an investment of over £1bn in DLUHC’s Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG) over three years, including a £109m top-up this year (2023-24). There has also been funding of £120m to help councils address Ukraine and homelessness pressures in 2024/25, including funding for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Employment: Disability

Jane Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help people with complex disabilities find suitable employment opportunities.

Mims Davies: The Government has a wide range of initiatives to support disabled people and people with health conditions, including people with complex disabilities, to start, stay and succeed in work. These include:The Work and Health Programme providing tailored and personalised support for disabled people;Access to Work grants helping towards extra costs of working beyond standard reasonable adjustments;Disability Confident encouraging employers to think differently about disability and health, and to take positive action to address the issues disabled employees face in the workplace;A digital information service for employers providing better integrated and tailored guidance on supporting health and disability in the workplace;Increasing access to occupational health, including the testing of financial incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises and the self-employed;Increased Work Coach support in Jobcentres for disabled people and people with health conditions to help them move towards and in to work;Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres offering advice and expertise on how to help disabled people and people with health conditions into work;Introducing Employment Advisors to Musculoskeletal Conditions (MSK) services in England, helping individuals with MSK conditions to return to or remain in employment.Work in partnership between the DWP and health systems, including Employment Advice in NHS Talking Therapies, and the Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care (IPSPC) programme, a Supported Employment model (place, train and maintain) delivered in health settings, aimed at people with physical or common mental health disabilities to support them to access paid jobs in the open labour market.Building on existing provision and the £2 billion investment announced at the Spring Budget 2023, we announced a new package of support in Autumn Statement 2023. This includes:Doubling the number of places on the Universal Support employment programme, to provide support for 100,000 people per year when fully rolled out;Formally launching WorkWell, which will bring together the NHS, local authorities and other partners, in collaboration with jobcentres, to provide light touch work and health support in approximately 15 pilot areas;Building on the extension of the certification of the fit notes to a wider range of healthcare professions, exploring new ways of providing individuals receiving a fit note with timely access to work and health support; andEstablishing an expert group to support the development of the voluntary national baseline for Occupational Health provision.

Employment: Disability

Jane Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support young disabled people into employment.

Mims Davies: Access to Work is a demand-led discretionary grant which supports the recruitment and retention of eligible disabled people aged 16 and over in sustainable, paid employment. Access to Work plays an active role in supporting the transitions of young disabled people into employment, by providing funding for in work support including vocational programmes such as Supported Internships, Traineeships and Apprenticeships. To help raise awareness of support available when young disabled people move into employment, identify adjustments and reduce the need for multiple assessments, a series of passports and planners have been developed, with the Adjustments Planner focusing on transitions from education to employment. The Adjustments Planner provides students with a transferable record of their adjustments, support, and work requirements and can help the student settle into college/university life. It can also offer support beyond education by smoothing the transition into employment - reducing the burden when applying for Access to Work, enabling support to be put in place quickly and removing the need for the student to repeat personal details.

Unemployment

Tahir Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to tackle disproportionate levels of unemployment of (a) women, (b) disabled people and (c) Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pension’s Jobcentre offer provides a range of options to those seeking employment, including face-to-face time with work coaches and interview assistance. In addition, there is specific support targeted towards young people, people aged 50 plus, ethnic minorities and disabled people and people with health conditions. There is also support for those with childcare costs through Universal Credit. The DWP Jobhelp pages [https://jobhelp.campaign.gov.uk/] provide fuller information of the help and support available. DWP also works in partnership with others, including working with the Department of Health and Social Care to provide support embedded within health systems, for example, Employment Advice in NHS Talking Therapies. Due to rising levels of inactivity due to long-term sickness, a new package of support, building upon existing provision and the £2 billion investment announced at the Spring Budget 2023, was announced in Autumn Statement 2023. This includes:Doubling the number of places on the Universal Support employment programme, to provide support for 100,000 people per year when fully rolled out;Formally launching WorkWell, which will bring together the NHS, local authorities and other partners, in collaboration with jobcentres, to provide light touch work and health support in approximately 15 pilot areas;Building on the extension of the certification of the fit notes to a wider range of healthcare professions, exploring new ways of providing individuals receiving a fit note with timely access to work and health support; andEstablishing an expert group to support the development of the voluntary national baseline for Occupational Health provision.

Playgrounds: Disability and Special Educational Needs

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the accessibility to local playgrounds for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Mims Davies: The department published the Disability Action Plan on 5 February 2024 which includes measures looking at the accessibility of playgrounds. A large amount of guidance about how to improve playground accessibility is already available, but practitioners are not always able to locate this advice. The Disability Unit will create an online hub of information for local authorities on creating accessible playgrounds with a new families disabled people’s experience panel helping to support the hub’s development. This is a national-level approach that should support improvements across many local authorities. We will continue to monitor this area, as well as working with partners to explore the potential for new or updated guidance.

Jobcentres: South Holland and the Deepings

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many jobcentre clients have been assisted by an Armed Forces Champion in South Holland and the Deepings constituency in the last five years.

Mims Davies: Since January 2023, 15 members of the local Armed Forces community have been supported in the South Holland and Deepings area. The Armed Forces Champions have specific responsibilities for supporting members of the Armed Forces community, including building staff capability within their districts, personally handling some claims, supporting veterans into work and helping resolve complex cases where necessary. Every Work Coach is trained on how to provide tailored and personalised support to members of the Armed Forces community and their families, working in partnership with their Armed Forces Champions. In those areas where there are particularly high levels of demand, for example garrison towns, this will form a significant part of the work done in individual Jobcentres. Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal departmental use only, and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

Bank Services: Fraud and Social Security Benefits

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to use the proposed powers under the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill to monitor the bank accounts of (a) people suspected of fraud and (b) all people who claim means-tested benefits.

Paul Maynard: The powers sought under the Bill would not give DWP direct access to citizen’s bank accounts.What this power will do is require designated third parties to look within their own data and provide relevant information to DWP that may signal where some claimants may not meet the eligibility criteria for the benefit they are receiving. This data may signal fraud or error and require a further review by DWP (through business-as-usual processes) to determine whether incorrect payments are being made. The power covers all DWP benefits and payments, including those that are means tested or have residency requirements, but it will initially be focussed on benefits where there is a significant fraud challenge. No personal information will be shared by DWP and only the minimum amount of information on those in receipt of DWP payments will be provided to the Department so we can identify those people whose claims have matched the criteria we have set.With fraud becoming a growing problem, accounting for over 40% of all crime, the welfare system is not immune to this. It is vital that the Government takes measures to address this issue and ensure the right support is provided to the right people.We expect this measure to save up to £600m in the next five years.

Jobcentres: Dyslexia

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of availability of adjustments available to dyslexic users of job centres.

Jo Churchill: Our Work Coaches engage with customers to understand individual needs to ensure they receive communications in an accessible format. For customers with dyslexia, this can include communication on non-white paper, in audio or by email.Information about our services is accessed through GOV.UK whose standards meeting the WCA 2.0 standard allowing customers using assistance software to access our pages.

Poverty: Birmingham

Tahir Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Cities Outlook 2024, published on 22 January 2024 by the Centre for Cities, what steps his Department is taking to reduce child poverty in Birmingham.

Jo Churchill: The Government is committed to reducing poverty, including child poverty, and supporting low-income families. We will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and children. Working age benefits will increase by 6.7% from April 2024, subject to Parliamentary approval, following a 10.1% increase in 2023/24. To further support low-income households, we are also raising the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents in April 2024, benefiting 1.6 million low-income households. With over 900,000 vacancies across the UK, our focus remains firmly on supporting parents to move into and progress in work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment - particularly where it is full-time - in substantially reducing the risk of child poverty. The latest statistics show that children living in workless households were around 5 times more likely to be in absolute poverty after housing costs than those where all adults work. To further support parents into work, we increased the Universal Credit childcare costs cap to £951 a month for one child and £1630 a month for two or more children in June 2023. We will also increase the National Living Wage by 9.8% to £11.44 for workers aged 21 years and over from this April - an annual increase in gross earnings of over £1800 for someone working full-time on the National Living Wage.

Universal Credit: Disqualification

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claims were closed because a claimant failed to accept a claimant commitment that included (a) no work-related, (b) only work preparation and (c) work-focused interview requirements in 2020.

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claims were closed because a claimant failed to accept a claimant commitment that included (a) no work-related, (b) only work preparation and (c) work-focused interview requirements in 2021.

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claims were closed because a claimant failed to accept a claimant commitment that included (a) no work-related, (b) only work preparation and (c) work-focused interview requirements in 2022.

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claims were closed because a claimant failed to accept a claimant commitment that included (a) no work-related, (b) only work preparation and (c) work-focused interview requirements in 2023.

Jo Churchill: In 2023, 21,000 claimants with a claimant commitment with 'No work-related requirements', 2,400 with 'Work preparation' requirements, and 1,200 with 'Work-focussed interview' requirements were part of a UC claim that closed because a claimant commitment was not accepted. In 2022, 25,000 claimants with a claimant commitment with 'No work-related requirements', 2,600 with 'Work preparation' requirements, and 1,500 with 'Work-focussed interview' requirements were part of a UC claim that closed because a claimant commitment was not accepted.  In 2021, 17,000 claimants with a claimant commitment with 'No work-related requirements', 1,200 with 'Work preparation' requirements, and 1,400 with 'Work-focussed interview' requirements were part of a UC claim that closed because a claimant commitment was not accepted. In 2020, 12,000 claimants with a claimant commitment with 'No work-related requirements', 730 with 'Work preparation' requirements, and 810 with 'Work-focussed interview' requirements were part of a UC claim that closed because a claimant commitment was not accepted. Note: for couple claims, both claimants must accept their claimant commitment, or the claim will close due to a claimant commitment not being accepted. This means that for some claimants with each work group requirement above, they accepted their claimant commitment, but the other claimant did not.  Legislation sets out the types of requirements that can be applied to claimants depending on the labour market regime/legal conditionality group that applies to them. The requirements any claimant is asked to meet will be clearly set out in their Claimant Commitment. All claimants regardless of their conditionality group, including those in the ‘No Work-Related Requirements’ regime, must accept a Claimant Commitment as a condition of entitlement. Claimants must accept the commitment within 7 days and failure to do this will result in claim termination. In exceptional circumstances where a claimant is unable to accept a Claimant Commitment we can remove the requirement to do so. This may include, for example, claimants who have an appointee or someone acting on their behalf, claimants who are incapacitated in hospital and exceptional emergency situations. Claimants who are in the ‘No Work-Related Requirements’ group are not subject to conditionality. This group includes claimants who are too sick to work, over State Pension Age, have defined caring responsibilities or are earning over their conditionality earnings threshold.

Department for Transport

Fishing Vessels: Safety

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2024 to Question 12084 on Fishing Vessels: Safety, what the total legal costs incurred by his Department were for (a) investigations of suspected non-use of personal floatation devices and (b) any other purpose by legal firm DWF in each of the last five years.

Guy Opperman: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) incurred the following legal expenditure with DWF over the last 5 years: a) Legal costs in issuing notices related to breach of the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Personal Protective Equipment) Regulations 1999 - £31,104 in 2023. Nil return for information related to prior years. b) Total legal spend with DWF (inclusive of spend detailed in part a) over the last 5 years is detailed below: YearPayment2018£9,7012019£10,8492020£15,0792021£13,5012022£472,8692023£1,382,895 The change in total spend profile with this legal services provider reflects the fact that the MCA has reduced its suppliers to consolidate and reduce overall costs by utilising the framework for procurement of legal services.

Community Transport: Inspections

Sir Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Annex 2 of the guidance entitled Section 19 and 22 permits and obligations: not for profit passenger transport issued by the Driver and Vehicles Standards Agency on 30 December 2020, whether the professional inspection of vehicles over 12 years old every six weeks is (a) advisory or (b) mandatory.

Guy Opperman: It is the responsibility of the permit holder to ensure that any vehicle used under a permit is in a safe and roadworthy condition. The Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness (GTMR): Commercial Goods and Passenger Carrying Vehicles (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-maintaining-roadworthiness), produced by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, reflects that older vehicles will need more frequent maintenance. It provides information to help ensure that a vehicle is fully roadworthy when in use.The GTMR helps permit holders to identify and implement systems that ensure vehicular roadworthiness requirements are met. It is a mandatory requirement that a vehicle is fully roadworthy whenever it is being used, regardless of age, as referenced in the GTMR.

Bus Services: North East

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help ensure that there is adequate competition between private bus companies in the North East.

Guy Opperman: The North-East Combined Authority and bus operators are delivering improvements to local bus services through a statutory Enhanced Partnership (EP) and have followed EP guidance issued by the Department for Transport to ensure its compliance with competition law. A competition test and formal consultation with the Competition and Markets Authority have been carried out as part of the EP process. The North-East Combined Authority is responsible for the content of their Enhanced Partnership.

Pokesdown Station: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to help ensure that the planned rail upgrades by Network Rail to Pokesdown for Boscombe Station in Bournemouth East are completed in 2024.

Huw Merriman: I will shortly be meeting with officials and Network Rail to assess timescales which were previously communicated to Parliament. I will provide an update to the Rt Hon Member in writing thereafter.

Bus Services

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing metro mayors to operate bus services.

Guy Opperman: Metro Mayors do have the ability to franchise bus services without requiring consent, following new legislation introduced by this government in 2017.

Driving Licences: Kosovo

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Kosovo on a potential reciprocal driving licence exchange agreement with that country.

Guy Opperman: Following a request from the Kosovan Embassy to consider a possible reciprocal driving licence exchange agreement, officials have carried out a full assessment of the licensing and testing information provided by the Kosovan authorities. This assessment concluded that arrangements in place in Kosovo for the issue of driving licences, including having driving tests and licensing procedures, are comparable with those in Great Britain. The department is now progressing the work required to achieve an exchange agreement as quickly as possible. All such licence exchange agreements are subject to public consultation and the introduction of the relevant legislation.

Speed Limits

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of 20mph zones.

Guy Opperman: The Department for Transport published a comprehensive three-year evaluation of the effect of 20mph limits, which are 20mph schemes relying only on signage, on 22 November 2018. The evaluation considered collision and casualty statistics for all road user types. It showed that typically they resulted in less than a 1mph reduction in average speed.

Shipping: Suez

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the number of British-flagged vessels that passed through the Suez Canal in each of the last five years.

Guy Opperman: The total number of British-flagged commercial vessel transits and the distinct number of British-flagged commercial vessels transiting the Suez Canal.YearNumber of transitsNumber of vessels201910466202012049202112658202211667202313078

Shipping: Red Sea

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the impact of terrorist acts by Houthi pirates in the Red Sea on ships heading to British ports.

Guy Opperman: Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea are unacceptable and must stop. The Government is working closely with international partners to degrade Houthi capabilities and deter them from carrying out further attacks. My Department is working closely with other government departments to monitor the impacts of these events. Ships can reroute around the Cape of Good Hope, and many shipping operators are choosing to do so. This has added additional time and distance to vessel journeys, which may cause some initial delays to ship arrivals at British ports. Ship operators now have mitigations in place to adjust to the changed routings, and shipping schedules are stabilising with regular services and supply of goods continuing.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Carbon Capture and Storage

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make a comparative assessment of the adequacy of access to carbon capture and storage capabilities in each region; and whether she is taking steps to help ensure the (a) equity and (b) efficiency of the distribution of such capabilities.

Andrew Bowie: The Department has previously undertaken assessments of the potential CCUS capabilities of industrial clusters across the UK, including the HyNet, East Coast Cluster, Acorn, and Viking clusters, as part of the Cluster Sequencing Process. The guidance and eligibility criteria for these assessments is available on gov.uk. CCUS will be essential to meeting the UK’s 2050 net zero target, playing a vital role in levelling up the economy, supporting the low-carbon economic transformation of our industrial regions, creating new high value jobs across the UK. We remain committed to industrial decarbonisation across all nations and regions of the UK as we work toward net zero.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

First Time Buyers: Leasehold

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help improve affordability for first time buyers in the leasehold sector.

Lee Rowley: This Government is committed to supporting home ownership and first-time buyers. We have also introduced the Leasehold and Freehold Bill to reform leasehold for everyone.